Portable Eucalyptus Chair by Novica
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 08.16.05
This chair is built in Rio de Janeiro, out of sustainable eucalyptus wood and canvas. It's part of a collection of furniture from Novica, an online store created by National Geographic with the intention of "uniting you with more than 2,000 extraordinary master artists around the world".
The chair's designers, Marcello and Felipe, describe how it was created:
We investigated for a long period of time, until we finally thought up a product that originated in our personal interest, yoga, as well as something that was environmentally friendly – a relaxing Zen chair! So we started a project and created a non-governmental organization in a renowned favela of Rio de Janeiro.After deciding on the materials we opened a workshop, where there's an average of 15 young people who we train and assist. We teach them how to make the chairs as part of their professional training, and in this way we have helped them avoid being marginalized.
The chair is available for $67.95 from Novica.
Not that I doubt that the designers " investigated for a long period of time" until the design came to them, but if they happened into any camping store the inspiration would have come much quicker.